Unplanned
by Ixe
Summary: The Battle of Hogwarts doesn't go as planned. Harry doesn't defeat Voldemort, and the war continues. As the Order of the Phoenix does their best to prepare for the coming battle, Draco Malfoy unexpectedly arrives at their headquarters looking for help. (Will update summary as story progresses!)


**Summary:** The Battle of Hogwarts doesn't go as planned. Harry doesn't defeat Voldemort, and the war continues. As the Order of the Phoenix does their best to prepare for the coming battle, Draco Malfoy unexpectedly arrives at their headquarters looking for help.

 **Warnings (Will update as story progresses):** Expect violence, sexuality, language, and other mature themes

 **Disclaimer:** I did not create Harry Potter!

" _The world had ended, so why had the battle not ceased, the castle fallen silent in horror, and every combatant laid down their arms?"_

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling

The world was burning. Hogwarts, the ever-present sanctuary, was dying. If Ginny had a moment to stop and look, she would have seen Hell. The walls were no longer walls, only piles of rubble pretending to encase the building. Tapestries that had littered the castle for centuries were alight in fire. Everything was in shambles. Over her left shoulder, a towering giant shrouded in nothing but a frayed loincloth ripped through what remained of the North staircase, while masked Death Eaters let out shrieks of appreciation. Their bribes gave him confidence, and his monstrous fists smashed through yet another wall of brick. Their sick cheers fell dead to Ginny's ears - she had more immediate things to think about.

A flash of green light flew past her ear, so close she felt the breeze hit her hair. The curse collided with something behind her, the _Avada_ taking down even more of the building. Her breath caught in her throat, and she had to force herself forward. She didn't have time to think about what would have happened if the cloaked figure had better aim, and how quickly she could have been taken out of this life. " _Confringo!"_ She fired back, thrusting her wand arm with a viciousness she hadn't realized she had. " _Expulso!"_ The first curse was flicked aside by her opponent, but the second caught him off guard. The blue light struck him in his wand arm. He flew back, smashing into what was left of the wall. A horrible snap told Ginny that he wouldn't be getting back up anytime soon.

She swallowed heavily. That was the second life she had taken.

For a breathtaking moment, she stood alone in the hallway. Her auburn hair was coming out of its braid. Looking back, she saw a certain irony in the time she had spent that morning arranging her hair into its complicated plait. She had no idea what the day would bring, and how useless those moments in front of the mirror had been. The left sleeves of her robes were ripped nearly clean off of her shoulder, revealing a deep gash inflicted by Antonin Dolohov. He had been her first kill - a stroke of luck on her end. After the initial nausea had left the pit of her stomach, she had been left with a sense of sick, stinging pride from her victory.

The fighting continued on around her. She had found herself in a corridor right outside of the Great Hall, where the crux of the battle resided. From the noise echoing down the hall, she could tell that things were intense. To her left, her eyes found Tonks exchanging spells with Augustus Rookwood. His silver mask lay discarded by his feet. Ginny felt her stomach turn. Dolohov had done the same. The more arrogant Death Eaters _wanted_ them to see their faces. They wanted everyone to know they weren't afraid. Now that the Ministry was compromised, they had nothing to fear, and they knew it.

To her right, several more pairs battled. She watched as a blonde witch she had never seen before sidestepped a red curse, leaving it to crash into the wall behind her. Her assessment of the room was shattered when a spell whizzed past her leg. She spun, wand raised. She was met with yet another silver mask, staring at her soullessly with a wand pointed straight at her. She didn't have time to linger, or to watch others. She shot a spell back, and found herself once again trapped in a duel to the death. In between spells, she determined that this Death Eater was undoubtably a woman. Ginny could see the slight curve of her breast under her robes, and a mane of brunette hair stuck out from the other end of the mask. Her dark eyes showed no mercy.

They exchanged spells for what felt like hours. Ginny managed to land a nasty cut on her opponent's thigh, but she returned the favor with a new gash to Ginny's forehead. She reached up with her free hand to wipe the blood out of her eyes.

"NO!"

A bellow sounded from within the Great Hall, and everyone in Ginny's vicinity froze to look in that direction.

"HE IS _MINE!"_ Ginny's heart froze. That was Voldemort's serpentine howl, which could only mean one thing.

All at once, there was a mad dash towards the Hall. The woman she'd been battling turned without another glance and ran towards her master. She, along with all of the other followers, clutched their arms. Whatever was happening in the other room, they undoubtedly could feel Voldemort's rage through their Mark.

Ginny sucked in a breath and followed them without a second thought. _Harry._ Her feet thundered down the stone hallway until she reached the Great Hall, and them came to a screeching stop. She could hardly see over the mass of people, all paused in their actions to watch the Dark Lord. He was partially cornered by Flitwick, Kingsley, and Slughorn. The three men were firing curses at Voldemort left and right, but he still managed to hold his own. His black cape billowed around him. His inhuman face was contorted into a hiss, and Ginny could swear she saw magic emanating from his body. Though he had no problem with swatting away the incoming curses, he was trapped in the duel.

Someone grabbed Ginny's hand from behind her, and she jumped and swung around. Thankfully, on the other end of her hand stood Tonks, with a crowd of other Order members behind her. Tonks' normally vibrant hair had dulled into a sandy brown shade, and horror was etched across her face. "Gin," she whispered in a rasp, pointing over the crowd of people with her wand. Ginny's eyes followed her wand, over the shoulders of the Death Eaters frozen mere meters in front of her. The house tables in the Hall had been decimated; nothing remained but a few scattered bodies resting motionless on the ancient floor. Her gaze traveled up to the front of the Hall, where the long table belonging to the professors was missing. She saw Bellatrix, her black shredded dress hanging off of her body, and her dark mass of curls flowing behind her. She had a mad look in her eyes, and a grin to match. Her wand arm was outstretched, red shots of light pelting -

"NO!" Ginny didn't recognize the anguished shriek that left her mouth. She tried to move forward, to do something, anything, but Tonks' hand on hers held her back.

"Ginny, you can't."

"Why the bloody hell is no one _helping him_?" Her chocolate eyes burned with tears, but they didn't fall. She couldn't look away from Harry's motionless body being assaulted by Bellatrix's magic. "Someone _do_ something!"

She struggled against her friend, but Tonks only held her tighter. "There's some type of shield up. No one can get through."

Ginny realized that she was right, and that people weren't simply watching as she'd assumed. Death Eater's and Order members alike had their wands raised against some invisible force which stopped them from intervening. Long ropes of golden magic spun from dozens of wands, before shattering as if they'd hit a wall.

For several long, painful moments, all Ginny could do was watch, her breath caught in her throat. The ward, which must have been cast by Bellatrix, began to dent under the pressure from the outside. In a sudden, violent movement, Bellatrix cast a final curse on Harry, and his body flew from the ground towards the spectators. There was a collective shout as he slammed into the ward, before falling as if in slow motion onto the stone floor. Ginny's shaking hand covered her mouth, trying to contain the shriek. _No._ She was too far back to tell, but it certainly seemed like Harry was dead. A tear, mixed with blood from the cut above her eye, slid down her cheek. Tonks grasped her hand tighter.

"Merlin," Tonks whispered. "No…"

Everyone seemed to be motionless for a long moment. The only sound that echoed through the hall was Bellatrix's haunting, demonic laugh. She clutched her arms, howling in laughter. She seemed oblivious to Voldemort's inhuman shriek of rage, directed only at her. Order members were silent, staring at Harry's body. He was everyone's last hope, and what would they do if he was truly gone? The Death Eaters were equally panicked, knowing full well that Harry had been _Voldemort's_ , and if he was truly dead, the Dark Lord's rage towards Bellatrix would be unequalled.

The moment of stillness passed, and everyone sprung into action in an instant. McGonagall, wand raised in a rage, decimated the ward in front of her with a huge golden flash that had Ginny covering her eyes. Next thing she knew, McGonagall, with a hoard of Death Eaters at her heels, was scooping up Harry's broken body in her arms. She spun, her eyes blazing with emotion, and Disaperated into nothing. Ginny couldn't help but feel a surge of hope growing in her heart. She hadn't seen any green curses hit Harry; he could very well still be alive. If McGonagall got him back to the headquarters and Madame Pomfrey fast enough, he could have a chance. No matter how small that chance was, Ginny clung onto that.

Before Ginny could think too much more, Voldemort let out a bloody shriek unlike anything she had ever heard in her life. It echoed off the walls, and Ginny ripped her hand from Tonks' to cover her ears. Everyone in the Hall did the same, trying to escape from the noise assaulting their ears. It was horrific, and certainly not human. Voldemort's magic seemed to explode from the inside, and for a moment his entire form glowed with a red static energy. The immense blast of magic threw Flitwick, Kingsley, and Slughorn off their feet, and the Dark Lord was freed from his duel.

Bellatrix twirled to face her master and dropped to her knees, ripped skirts pooling around her. "My Lord!" She crooned. The delirious glee on her face made her inherent madness glaringly obvious. Either she had no idea of the rage Voldemort felt towards her, or she simply didn't care.

Voldemort swept forward, his black eyes shimmering with a hardly concealed rage. "You," he hissed, "are _nothing."_

A wave of the Elder Wand, and a green light hit her square in the face. The force and anger behind the _Avada_ bored a bloody hole straight through her face, leaving nothing behind. Her dead body fell backwards into an undignified lump on top of her robes. Blood, guts, and skin lay around her, creating a haunting shrine.

The Dark Lord spun on his heels, and in a flash of black fabric, disappeared into the night. Within seconds, arms clasping their forearms, followed suit.

Eyes remained on Bellatrix's mangled body for a long, terrifying moment, everyone too afraid to move.

"He's gone." Flitwick's feeble voice rang out like a bell in the silent hall. "They're gone." Everyone sensed that his declaration should have ended with ' _for now,'_ but the relief was palpable. Order members and the remaining soldiers who had taken a stand against Voldemort sprung into action, shouting and searching frantically for their loved ones.

Ginny allowed herself to be swept into the arms of her family, and couldn't help but let out a sob of relief when she was sure everyone was accounted for. But the Weasleys were some of the lucky ones; misery was all around her. She knew Lavender and Colin had fallen, both taken down by Greyback's fangs. She didn't even want to think about who else was gone. She could only cling to Bill's strong arms, thanking all higher powers that her family was safe.

Past her mother's puffy head of hair, she made eye contact with Ron, who had Hermione in tow. The anguished looks on their faces must have matched hers, and all of the energy drained from her body. _Harry._ She pulled from Bill's arms, placing a hand against his shoulder to keep her balance. Covering her eyes with her free hand, the past few hours caught up to her.

Ginny's body crumbled against her brother, and she let out a cry.

 **AN: (5/16/18)** Hey guys! I'm super excited about this story. I'm almost on summer break from school, so hopefully I'll have lots of time to work on it. Let me know what you think!


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